John Kennedy has led his first training session as Celtic interim boss as the former Hoops assistant put the Parkhead squad through their paces at Lennoxtown.
The 37-year-old has stepped up to the top job in Glasgow’s East End following Neil Lennon’s decision to stand aside on Wednesday and will now take charge of the team this weekend when they face Aberdeen at Celtic Park for the second time in ten days.
The former Hoops defender, whose career was ended by a knee injury at the age of just 26, has never held a senior managerial role, but is among the favourites to take on the position on a full time basis.
A Tweet posted by Celtic on Thursday morning showed Kennedy overseeing his inaugural session at the Premiership champions training base hours after news of Lennon’s departure broke.
Kennedy was previously a scout for the club after being forced out of the game, but was brought into the coaching team after impressing former boss Brendan Rodgers.
The current Leicester City manager backed him as a “safe pair of hands” and suggested he could “stabilise” their faltering campaign in the short term.
“In terms of John, when myself and my staff went in there, John was someone I didn’t know but I heard good things about him,” Rodgers said.
“He knows the temperature of Celtic which is important. He has been through all the levels as a scout, a coach, progressed through to the first team and in my time there he was an absolutely brilliant first-team coach for me.
“He has great knowledge of the game, very loyal, very supportive, very hard working.
“He knows the demands of the club and obviously with Neil moving on he is a great pair of hands to go in there and just stabilise the players, the club and I am pretty sure he will do a fantastic job in the period he is in there.”
